BUDGET 2021 LIVE UPDATES

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INDIRECT TAX

• New Infra Development Cess Introduced
• Customs duty on cotton, raw silk raised
• Exemption duty on steel scrap up to March 2022; customs duty on naphtha cut to 2.5 pc
• I propose to review more than 400 old exemptions in customs this year. We will put new customs duty structure into place by Oct-1, 2021
• We are revoking ADD and CVD on certain steel products and reducing duties on copper scrap from 5% to 2.5%
• Substantial increase in exports of mobiles and chargers
• We are revoking ADD and CVD on certain steel products and reducing duties on copper scrap from 5% to 2.5%:
• We are cutting the Basic Customs Duty rate on nylon chips & nylon fiber
• We are rationalizing custom duty on Gold and Silver
• We are now increasing our exports of mobiles and chargers
• We have made record GST collections in the last few months
• FM says on GST that it has been a big success and there has been a record collection in GST
• We have updated our Custom Duty Policies to ensure easy access to raw materials and value added products
• GST is now 4 yrs old and we have made several efforts to simplify it

DIRECT TAX

• NO CHANGES IN INCOME TAX SLAB RATES.
• Rs 1.5 lakh deduction on payment of interest for affordable housing extended by 1 yr
• Propose to notify rules to eliminate double taxation for NRIs on foreign retirement funds
• Govt proposes to extend exemption available for the purchase of affordable houses & to provide tax exemption for affordable rental housing projects
• Tax Exemptions for Renting Affordable Housing. 
• No Double Taxation for Non-Resident Indians.
• Late deposit of employee's contribution to PF by employers will not be allowed as a deduction to the employer
• Serious tax offenses of concealment of income of over Rs 50 lakh can be reopened after 10 years
• The government is committed to providing affordable rental housing for migrant workers
• Propose tax holiday for aircraft leasing companies located in IFSC.
• Income tax return filers increased to 6.48 cr in 2020 from 3.31 cr in 2014
• Govt proposes to increase the threshold for tax audit to Rs.10 crore vs Rs. 5crore (for those transacting 95% digitally)
• States to get 41 pc share of taxes as per 15th Finance Commission recommendation; govt has accepted the recommendation
• Now Faceless ITAT is also here
• To cut the limit for tax assessment reopen to 3 years from 6 years.
• Timeline for Re-opening of tax Returns Reduced to 3 years.
• New Dispute Resolution Panel for small Taxpayers.
• Govt to set-up a faceless dispute resolution mechanism for small taxpayers. Govt proposes to reduce the time allowed to re-open tax investigation to 3 years vs 6 years now
• For ease of compliance, dividend payment for REIT and InVIT exempted from tax.
• For senior citizens who only have a pension and interest income, exemption proposed for filing of income tax returns

Other Sectors

• Govt proposes setting up of a conciliatory mechanism for quick resolution of contractual disputes
• Govt proposes to introduce National Nursing and Midwifery Commission Bill
• Govt proposes national language translation initiative
• Fiscal deficit revised to 9.5% for FY21 of GDP and pegged at 6.8% for FY22
• Rs 1,500 cr earmarked for scheme to incentivize digital payments
• Substantial investments in the development of modern fishing harbors & fish landing centers. 5 major fishing harbors - Kochi, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Paradip & Petuaghat will be developed as hubs for economic activities
• Central University to be set up in Leh
• One nation, one ration card plan under implementation in 32 states, 1 UT
• Agri Infra Fund increased to Rs 40,000 cr, Micro Irrigation Corpus doubled to Rs 10,000 cr: FM in Budget for 2021-22
• Social security benefit to be extended to platform and gig workers
• Agri infra fund would be made available to APMCs to augment infrastructure facilities
• To bring about transparency, efficiency, and governance reforms, in the Nursing Profession, the National Nursing and Midwifery Commission Bill will be introduced
• Agri infra fund would be made available to APMCs to augment infrastructure facilities
• A scheme for tea farmers will be introduced for the welfare of women and Children in Assam
• India to launch Deep Ocean Mission, with the allocation of Rs 4,000 crore over 4 years
• FM announces development of 5 major fishing hubs
• 1,000 more mandis will be integrated with the electronic national market
• Operation green scheme to cover 22 more perishable commodities
• Allocation to rural infra development increased to Rs 40,000 cr in the next fiscal from Rs 30,000 crore in FY21
• MSME allocation to be doubled. Government to set aside Rs 15,700 crore in FY22
• Farmers find a way in the bahi khata. FM announces enhanced Agri credit target for FY22, gives update on welfare schemes.
• Scheme of Mega Investment Textile Parks to be launched, in addition to PLI scheme, to create world-class infra in the textile sector, with plug-and-play facilities, to create global export champions
• A portion of the agricultural fund will be allocated to APMC for furthering its infrastructure
• Cotton farmers saw a stupendous increase in the amount that was paid to them in 2013-14, that was 90 cr and it was increased to over 25,000 crores in 2020-21
• NCLT framework to be strengthened:
• FM announces transport system operator (TSO) for regulating common carrier capacity in gas pipelines to boost the gas-based economy
• FDI in insurance increased to 74 pc from 49 pc: FM
• SEBI to be notified as a regulator for regulated gold exchanges.
• Definition of small companies to be raised by increasing the capital limit from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 2 crore and turnover from Rs 2 crore to Rs. 20 Cr. One person companies allowed to be set up. Allow NRIs to set up the one-person company.
• The one-man show, Government to now allow one-person companies
• Government allots Rs 20,000 crore for bank recapitalization, as FM emphasizes the need to clean up banks' books
• Sitharaman's announcement of the addition of 100 cities to the City Gas Distribution network
• The Finance Minister proposed to revise the definition under the Companies Act, 2013 for small companies by increasing their threshold for capitalization to not exceeding Rs 50 lakh to not exceeding Rs 2 crore and turnover not exceeding Rs 2 crore to not exceeding Rs 20 crore.
• Government to amend Insurance Act to allow higher FDI
• Pipelines of GAIL (India) Ltd, Indian Oil Corp (IOC), and HPCL will be monetized, says FM in Budget for 2021-22
• Ujjwala Scheme will be extended to cover 1 cr more beneficiaries. We Will add 100 more districts in the next 3 years for city gas distribution
• Providing Rs 1.15 lk cr for Railways, privatizing airports
• Highway infra work proposed include building 8,500-km of highways by March 2022
• Vehicles to undergo fitness tests after 20 yrs for PVs, 15 years for CVs, says FM, announcing a voluntary vehicle scrapping policy.
• Government to set-up a Development Finance Institution (DFI), capitalized with Rs 20,000 crore
• India will introduce a bill to set up a new Development Financial Institution.
• New DFI aims to have a lending portfolio of Rs 5 lakh crore in 3 years
• FY21 capital expenditure seen at Rs 4.39 lakh crore
• Rs 44,000 crore under capital expenditure to be given to Department of Economic Affairs in FY22
• Over and above this, Rs 2 lakh crore will be provided to states and autonomous bodies to nudge their expenditure.
• Government to launch Mission Poshan 2.0; Jal Jeevan Mission Urban will be launched. "The Urban Swachh Bharat scheme will be implemented with an outlay of over Rs 1.4 lakh crore," she says
• The budget for health and well being would be around Rs. 2 lakh crore
• FM lays out a Rs 64,180 crore spending plan for healthcare over the next six years